With the bulk of its decisions behind them, members of the council-appointed chatrer review committee voted this week to include a specific recommendation that the town be redistricted to allow for different legislative options.

The town's 13 precincts are limiting because they cannot be divided equally into any grouping. The council's composition is also limited, leaving few options outside of representatives from each precinct, the current model, or at-large, seen as less attractive.

The committee will recommend that the council pursue special legislation to redistrict the town into 15 precincts in advance of the 2010 federal census and will implement its recommendations for a nine-member council with four members elected at-large and five elected from districts.

Members of the committee believe that their work will be useful for any group looking at the town's government.

Committee member Michael Daley said that a charter commission would face the same limitations without a change in precincts due to its current makeup.

The report will detail the different options available to the council with respect to the body's overall size and the methods available for changing it.

Such a move requires ratification by voters after special legislation is approved by the legislature and signed by the governor. In advance of that, a non-binding question to indicate the sense of the community on the issue could

Writing the Report

Committee members were assigned to teams by Crocker to draft different portions of the report. Each group will work independently over the next week, bringing back drafts that will be assembled into the final document.

As Wednesday night's meeting adjourned, those assigned to work together stayed around the conference table to sketch out responsibilities and a path on how to proceed.

The final report will be presented to the town council during the first week of February, with an appearance before the full council at its Feb. 15 meeting.

be placed as early as this November's town election.

The committee also discussed the possibility of having different charter-related questions on the same ballot as a petition to create an elected charter commission.

Allen Goddard, who serves on the committee and is also involved in the signature drive for a charter commission, said he would not like to see the council committee's actions interfere with the full charter effort.

Committee chairman Jim Crocker said that the committee's work is separate from the charter drive, which is still without its final signatures, and should not be delayed or swayed by what may occur.

There was general agreement around the table on that point, and the vote to offer the recommended path of action to the council was approved, with Goddard in agreement.